Abstract

Since its inception, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has been the primary forum for the international governance of biodiversity-based innovation.

The Convention and its protocols, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing (ABS), address several instances of the innovation and commercialization process, from access to the raw materials of biotechnological innovation (genetic resources) to the release of biotechnological products into the environment (for instance genetically modified seeds). In the last decade, technological developments have challenged the CBD processes. The ABS debate was expanded to address digital sequence information on genetic resources, while a series of developments linked to gene editing and synthetic biology tested biosafety frameworks.

This lecture will include:

• a brief exploration of the history and current trends of biotechnology governance in the CBD and its protocols;
• an assessment of recent decisions of the CBD Conference of the Parties in the broader regulatory framework, based on regime complexity as an analytical lens;
• and an examination of the shifting global politics of biotechnology.

A comprehensive approach to risk governance is proposed, as well as a series of considerations and research questions towards the fair and responsible governance of emerging biotechnologies.

The lecture reflects research conducted in the framework of a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship hosted by the School of International Studies of the University of Trento from 2021-2023.

Speaker

Elissavet Tsioumani - 

University of Liège

Bio

Doctor Elsa Tsioumani is an international environmental lawyer combining academic research with policy practice. She has 25 years of experience in the field of intergovernmental negotiations as a writer for Earth Negotiations Bulletin of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and has concluded numerous technical consultancies for international organizations, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

Currently a research fellow in the School of Law of the University of Liège and in the Transdisciplinary Institute for Environmental and Social Studies in Thessaloniki, her research focuses on international and transnational environmental law and policy of relevance to biodiversity, agriculture, and governance of emerging technologies.

From 2021-2023, she was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow in the School of International Studies of the University of Trento, with a focus on the governance of synthetic biology.

Her publications include the open-access monograph Fair and Equitable Benefit-sharing in Agriculture. Reinventing Agrarian Justice.